


Blood from a Stone - a fic in drabbles

by Lenny9987



Category: Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-08-19 10:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8203126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenny9987/pseuds/Lenny9987
Summary: This started as a drabble – Another Body – but the response was overwhelming that I continue it so I am. However, I am keeping the installments to the 100 word drabble format I started with and at the moment I have no set posting schedule.
 
The original prompt: Can we get a fic where what if jamie fell though when Claire and Bree where at the stones in the final.





	1. Chapter 1

“She… vanished,” Bree gasped.

“I know,” Claire said, holding her daughter tightly by her arms to keep her upright.

“There’s a body at the base of the stone,” Roger muttered.

“The husband, yes, I know,” Claire said turning to reassure Roger too.

“No not… There’s a _different_ body there—not burnt,” he explained rushing over to investigate the large immobile form.

Claire followed already preparing to assess the condition of this new traveler.

But when Roger managed to roll the figure over Claire cried out and clapped her hands over her mouth before falling to her knees beside him.

“Jamie!”


	2. Chapter 2

He’d gone to the stones on his way to Edinburgh when first leaving Laoghaire. Needing to feel close to Claire, the stones allowed him that and privacy.

He planted flowers that first trip so the second trip had been to see how they took to their new home.

They flourished as did his habit of visiting the stones.

Jamie was headed to Lallybroch to speak with Jenny and Ian about his youngest nephew, Ian, coming to live with him and apprentice at his print shop.

It was late but Jamie wouldn’t sleep without those moments at the stones with Claire.

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Jamie?” Bree exclaimed going pale. “As in…”

But Claire wasn’t paying attention to her. She had lifted Jamie’s head into her lap and was tracing the old familiar lines of his facial bones and the new lines inscribed by time.

His eyelids twitched.

“Jamie,” Claire whispered.

He groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

“ _Mo nighean donn_ … ye’re going gray,” he remarked reaching higher to where a straight silver lock had fallen over her eyes.

“So have you,” she told him, reaching to touch a gray patch near his temple.

“I feel… Am I dead?”

“No,” Claire smiled. “You’re not dead.”


	4. Chapter 4

Brianna watched as Jamie’s eyes blinked open and panicked. 

She ran down the hill towards Roger’s car. 

“Bree!” he called. It didn’t take long for him to catch up to her. 

He grabbed her arm to stop her but she collapsed to her knees and began hyperventilating.

“Christ,” Roger exclaimed dropping to his knees beside her. “Uh… bend over––put yer head between yer knees… if ye can.”

“It’s… really him… isn’t it,” Brianna panted. “I mean… two… three days ago… I didn’t even know he existed. And when Mama told me that he was from… that she… But… he’s here.”


	5. Chapter 5

Claire helped Jamie to sit up keeping a firm hold of his head between her hands. He raised his hands to clasp her wrists.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” she asked gauging the dilation of his pupils and scanning him for anything more than superficial injuries.

“I came to the stones to visit wi’ ye,” he explained. “I always do when I visit Lallybroch. Ye must have landed on me when ye came through.”

“We’re not in your time Jamie,” she told him gently. “You’re in mine.”

“1948?” his eyes widened with disbelief.

“1968,” she corrected with a smile.


	6. Chapter 6

“What can I do?” Roger asked firmly.

“What?” Brianna remained bewildered.

“I can talk to yer mam. They can take my car to the manse while we wait for the police.” He looked over his shoulder up the hill. Claire helped Jamie to sit up and a few feet away the body of Gillian Edgars husband continued to smolder. “Ye dinna have to meet him yet if ye’re no ready.”

Brianna shook her head. “I’m not. Thank you. I… I’m going to take a walk,” she said pushing herself to her feet and stumbling along the path to the road.


	7. Chapter 7

“1968? But then… Frank?” Jamie asked, his posture stiffening.

Claire shook her head. “He died two years ago.” She stroked his cheek and brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. “But you’re alive,” she repeated, “and  _ here _ .”

Jamie relaxed and began shifting to rise. Claire got her feet underneath her and a hand under his elbow to help him stand. 

“Are ye sure the stone didna fall on me?” Jamie asked, wincing. “My ears are still ringing.”

“Mrs. Ran… Doctor… Claire,” Roger stuttered and fidgeted as he made his way toward them. “Might I have a word wi’ ye?”


	8. Chapter 8

Roger felt small under Jamie Fraser’s gaze, as though the man already knew every inappropriate thought that had crossed his mind concerning Brianna.

Claire gave Jamie's arm a brief squeeze, then followed Roger away from the stones.

“Ye should take my car and bring him to the manse,” Roger suggested. “Bree and I will wait for the police.”

Claire stiffened at the mention of Brianna.

“It's just a bit much for her now,” Roger explained. “She needs to wrap her head around it and I thought he might too.”

“Of course,” Claire agreed with a reluctant nod, accepting Roger’s keys.


	9. Chapter 9

“Was that…” Jamie nodded to Roger. There was a slightly terrified look in his eyes.

Claire glanced back at Roger, confused for a moment, then what Jamie was asking struck her.

“No,” she told him gently. “That’s Roger. He’s the son of an old friend.”

“A friend from before, ye mean.”

“Sort of. Actually, I did meet Roger before I first went through. He must have been five at the time.”

“Too old then,” Jamie nodded with resignation.

“Brianna is still… she’s coming to terms with the truth, I’m afraid,” Claire confessed.

“Brianna? Another lass?”

Claire smiled broadly and nodded.

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Brianna fidgeted. As Roger approached she ducked so that he blocked her from prying eyes without impeding her own vision.

“Yer mam’s taking him to the manse. We’ll no have to go until ye’re ready… or until the police are through wi’ us,” he added with a glance toward the body of Gillian Edgars’ husband. “Have ye thought what we might tell them?”

“Well, I doubt ‘his wife did it but you just missed her; she traveled back in time,’ will fly,” Brianna quipped. 

The car’s lights struck them momentarily as Claire eased her way down to the main road. 


	11. Chapter 11

Jamie braced one hand against the locked car door and the other on the dashboard.

“It’s no much like a horse or carriage,” he remarked as Claire eased the car down the path to the main road. 

“It’ll be a smoother ride once we get to proper pavement,” she told him. 

The headlights illuminated a pair of figures huddled next to each other at the side of the path. 

“Is that her?” Jamie asked with awe saturating his voice, the bumpy ride forgotten.

“That’s her.”

His neck strained to keep sight of her as they passed. “She’s beautiful… and  _ grown _ .”


	12. Chapter 12

“Was that him?” Brianna asked straining her neck then ducking into the shadows as the car passed and she saw movement from the front seat. 

“I would expect so,” Roger replied with mild amusement. “No too many fellows it could be.”

Brianna rolled her eyes but the car turned onto the road and she relaxed, straightening up. 

“Thank you… for suggesting they go,” she said quietly. “I… I don’t know what I’ll say to him yet.”

“Ye dinna have to face this alone,” Roger whispered, reaching across the few inches between them and lightly brushing his finger along her hand. 


	13. Chapter 13

Jamie’s legs wobbled getting out of the car but Claire draped his arm over her shoulders and helped him up the path to the house. He flinched when she switched on the lights but then his eyes went wide as he took in the large space cluttered with the late reverend’s things.

“I don’t know what there are for clothes for you, but we’ll figure something. First we need you cleaned up.” She directed him to the bathroom, bracing for the Gaelic curses she anticipated the sight of a modern toilet would inspire.

“You and yer hot baths,” he muttered.


	14. Chapter 14

“What were ye doing here at the stones yerselves?” the officer asked Brianna and Roger.

They looked at each other briefly, Roger opened his mouth but failed to say anything. 

“I’m visiting from the states with my mother,” Brianna said quickly. “We heard about the stones and that the best time to see them was as the sun came up.”

“Right,” Roger agreed unconvincingly.

“Where is yer mother then?”

“She… she was a bit… overcome,” Roger stammered. “I suggested she take my car and head back for a lie down.”

“We’ll need her statement as well,” the officer warned them.


	15. Chapter 15

“Try these,” Claire said leaving a lumpy pile of clothes stacked on the toilet lid. “The Reverend wasn’t as tall as you but he was rounder. Hopefully they’ll hang long enough to keep you covered even if they don’t properly fit.”

Her eyes darted to the bathwater. Cloudy with soap and dirt, it obscured the details of Jamie’s soaking body.

Claire flushed. “How’re you feeling? Steadier?”

“Aye. The ringin’ in my head isna so bad as it was. My stomach isna so wobbly either.”

“Good. I’ll uh… I’ll leave you to it,” she said moving to leave.

“Claire… Thank ye.”


	16. Chapter 16

Brianna’s fingers tapped erratically on her thigh as she stared out the window of the back seat of the police car. Roger reached over and took her hand, stilling it before weaving his fingers with hers. She continued staring out the window.

“So ye didna recognize the deceased?” the cop inquired.

“No much to recognize by the time we got there, sir,” Roger pointed out.

“And ye didna see anyone else at the stones or along yer way? They couldna have gotten far given the body’s condition.”

“Can you pull over,” Brianna requested desperately. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Please tell me it’s no _supposed_ to be like this.”

She managed to suppress a laugh as he emerged from the bathroom.

“Dinna hold it in on my account, Sassenach.”

The arms of the sweater were baggy but it was too tight across the chest and through the shoulders so he was having difficulty lowering his arms. One hand clutched the waistband of the trousers which were too wide while the hems of the trouser-legs stopped several inches above his ankles.

“Let me get you a belt. Those look like they’ll hit the floor if you let go of them.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Ye feelin’ better now?” Roger whispered to Brianna. Her hand was cold and clammy but also tightly clasped between his own.

“I think so,” she told him. “I’m just… nervous about… you know…”

“Aye, I would be surprised if ye weren’t, to be honest.”

“This is the turn up here?” the cop asked loudly.

“Yes, officer, thank ye. If ye pull up there, I can take Miss Randall in and see if her mam’s awake.”

“Looks like it,” the cop said, pointing to the brightly lit second storey window. A shadowy figure appeared momentarily.

“Yup, that’s my mom,” Brianna confirmed.


	19. Chapter 19

Her heart pounded as she reached around to pull the belt through the loops on the trousers finally bringing the tail through the clasp and securing it so they rested on his hips. 

Swallowing loudly, she took the sweater and helped pull it back over his head, freeing his arms. 

She looked up tentatively into his eyes and the next moment he was kissing her with all the eagerness he’d shown on their wedding night. 

Lights passed over them from the window and Claire pulled away to watch a police car park in the yard.

“Wait here,” she instructed, breathless. 


	20. Chapter 20

Brianna relaxed when she saw her mother was alone in waiting for them when they entered the manse. 

“This is Dr. Randall,” Roger spoke up. 

“I understand ye left the scene because ye were… overcome?” the officer asked skeptically. 

“I wasn’t ‘overcome,’” Claire said defensively. “I’m a surgeon; not an undertaker. There was nothing I could do and I had a patient here in need of my attention. Waiting at the scene would keep me away longer than I’d planned. My statement will be the same whether taken here or at the scene.”

“Let’s have it then,” the officer requested.


	21. Chapter 21

Jamie heard voices downstairs and his nerves returned––one was his daughter… _Brianna_.

What would she think of him?

He wandered to the room with the tub and examined his face in the mirror. The shadow of dirt had been washed away. His hair was dark where still damp, but glowed ruddy in the light cast by the bright globes. His skin was pink from its scrubbing with unfamiliar lines and shadows. His lips were tender from kissing Claire.

She had kissed him back.

So long as she wanted him, he could face the unknowns of this world... including his daughter.


	22. Chapter 22

“That’s everything,” Claire insisted, rubbing her hands on her thighs as she rose to bid the officer farewell. “If there’s anything else you need…” 

“That should be all ma’am but if ye could stay in town a while longer, it’d be appreciated––material witnesses should we locate Mrs. Edgars.”

“Of course.” Since Geillis’ car had been left at the scene they told the officer they’d seen a woman and a man driving away as they’d headed up the hill to Craig na Dun, presumably Geillis fleeing. 

The officer nodded to Claire and Brianna before letting Roger lead him to the door. 


	23. Chapter 23

Curiosity drew Jamie to explore the room and its contents, guessing their owners. 

It was easy to identify Claire’s things––a medical text with detailed drawings and diagrams; clothes with a faint scent of her about them warring with a perfume; ‘Edgars’ and an address scrawled on a paper in her handwriting.

Then there were the things that belonged to Brianna––a brush with long red hairs caught in the bristles; clothes in a drastically different style than Claire’s; a book with the name Frank Randall on the front and an image on the back that sent a chill up Jamie’s spine.


	24. Chapter 24

As soon as the officer’s car pulled down the drive, Claire dashed to the stairs.

“Wait,” Brianna hissed moving to stop and hold her mother in place for just a few minutes more, to delay what she wasn’t sure she was ready for just a few minutes more.

Claire turned to see what Brianna needed, her eyes pleading, desperate to go to Jamie.

Roger came to stand behind Brianna, a warm and steadying presence.

“Go tell him it’s safe to come down,” Roger told Claire with a nod.

Claire nodded her thanks knowing Brianna had someone she could lean on.


	25. Chapter 25

“I cannae go down there, Sassenach,” Jamie whispered. “I feel a fool. What will she think of me?”

Claire ran her fingers through Jamie’s hair, pulling the drying red tendrils back into a ponytail and grabbing an elastic band from the table nearby to secure it. Jamie reached back to check the tie, his eyes still drawn into a frown.

She’d found a sweater that fit him better and covered the awkwardly belted waist of the pants.

“I won’t leave your side,” she promised brushing lint off his shoulders then sliding a hand down his arm to clasp his tightly.


	26. Chapter 26

Brianna found it easier examine the shape of him first and saw he held tight to Claire as they came down the stairs.

He was big, which was intimidating, but in taking in the shape and movement of him, she couldn’t avoid seeing the way Claire responded to _him_. Her hand caressed his then adjusted his sleeve with tender familiarity.

Brianna looked to her mother’s face but Claire was watching Jamie as he saw their daughter for the first time.

And so Brianna looked at his face and saw herself as if reflected in water, slightly distorted but still recognizable.


	27. Chapter 27

Jamie could hardly see for the tears in his eyes but when Brianna looked at him he felt time slip away. All the aches and pains he’d endured––not just injuries but the heartache of missing Claire, of missing  _ her,  _ Brianna, without even knowing her––disappeared. 

Claire squeezed his arm and nodded to Roger who was standing behind Brianna. They drifted away leaving father and daughter standing in silence, each waiting for the other to speak first. 

“Probably not what you expected, huh?” Brianna finally said. 

Jamie smiled. “Ye’re right. I never expected to have this chance.”

Blood rushed to Brianna’s face.


	28. Chapter 28

Brianna didn’t know what to make of him, of what she was feeling. The way he was looking at her… There weren’t many people in her life who had ever looked at her like that. Her mother, her father––that is…  _ Frank _ … She thought once or twice Roger might have looked at her that way but he’d looked away as soon as she tried to catch him at it. 

There was still so much about him she didn’t know and about those stupid standing stones and how it all worked… but the way he looked at her… none of that mattered. 


	29. Chapter 29

Claire and Roger moved in silence through the kitchen, cleaning and arranging while they waited and gave Brianna and Jamie their privacy. 

“What do ye think ye’ll do now he’s here?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Claire confessed. “I haven’t felt this much hope and…  _ fear _ … in a long time.” She chuckled quietly to herself. “Hope and fear. When you mix the two the resulting reaction leaves you with an abundance of possibility.”

Silently, she crept back down the hall to catch a glimpse of Jamie and Brianna through the open doorway. She felt Roger’s presence behind her a moment later. 


	30. Chapter 30

Brianna and Jamie covered the distance between them so that they met in the middle, each taking several small steps toward the other. There was a moment’s hesitation––on his part because he didn’t want to overstep her boundaries, on hers because she felt a stab of betrayal and wasn’t sure whether she was the betrayer or the one betrayed. 

And then she had slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest. His hand cupped the back of her head and his warmth enveloped her. Both smiled and relaxed, ready to know each other at last. 

(Fin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this is the end of this little drabble fic experiment. Thanks for joining me and for encouraging me along the way. For something I started without any overarching plan, I'm pleased with how it turned out.


End file.
